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Windsor Twp. issues violation to homeowner where man was arrested in baby kidnapping

Township officials said they received evidence from police that the property was in violation of a zoning ordinance.

By HANNAH SAWYER Daily Record/Sunday News

Updated:
08/20/2013 07:45:28 AM EDT

York, PA -

Windsor Township officials told residents Monday night that they have issued a property violation notice to the owner of the home where Ummad Rushdi was arrested earlier this month in the kidnapping of a 7-month-old baby.

The notice orders the owner of the home, Waheed Rushdi, to cease operation of a boarding house at 979 Castle Pond Drive, said Kipp Allison, township zoning officer, at a supervisor's board meeting Monday night.

York Area Regional Police were able to provide the information needed to issue the violation against Waheed Rushdi, including names and addresses of people said to be living at the home, Allison said at the supervisor's meeting.

The township ordinance allows only three unrelated individuals to live in a home and stipulates the homeowner does not receive income from them. The ordinance was changed in January because of complaints against the Rushdi residence and other properties.

Some residents attended the meeting and asked questions about how the township will continue to monitor the property.

Waheed Rushdi, who was not present at the meeting, will have 30 days to appeal the violation notice to the zoning hearing board. After the 30-day appeal period, township officials will inspect the property, and if it is found not in compliance, might file a civil suit against Rushdi, Allison said.

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Officials have fielded complaints about the property since 2008, Allison said. They inspected the house in 2010 following a complaint about a boarding house at the property and found four unrelated individuals living in the home, which at the time, did not violate the township zoning ordinance.

Home inspections are contingent on consent from the owner, Allison said. When the township followed up on a similar complaint against the property in 2011, Waheed Rushdi would not allow them inside the house.

Allison said inspectors again will need consent to enter the home following the 30-day appeal period.

"In the past, they've made it very open and were advertising on Craigslist. We'll track that again," he said. "We as a municipality do not have the right to go into a dwelling and prove there are tenants. ...I can only go so far as the law will allow us to go."

When asked if postal service records could be used to track the number of residents at the home, Allison said the postal service could not verify if some residents had moved on without changing their addresses.

Should the township chose to file a civil suit against Waheed Rushdi, "we will still have the burden of proving our case," solicitor Charles Rausch said.

Allison said collecting evidence, including testimony, has been a problem in the past.

Frank Warner, who lives across from the residence, called the board's failure to act on prior complaints "unconscionable."

The issuing of a notice of violation is "the same action they've taken time and time again," Warner said.

Warner said law enforcement have visited the home numerous times and that he and his wife were interviewed by law enforcement about the family.

"I've been watching this for 12 years disintegrate into what it is. ... You have done nothing," he said to applause.

Jeff Miller, who lives next door to the Rushdi residence, said he had spoken to one of the four tenants at the Rushdi home, who told him they all plan to move out.

"I'm optimistic that we're heading in the right direction," Miller said, but he questioned the township's ability to enforce compliance.

His "dream home" has been marred by the events one door down from him, he said, but he hopes that Waheed Rushdi now will sell the home.

"I can't imagine as a neighborhood that we would welcome him back with open arms," he said.